Gain a better understanding of your own pain before making a trip to the doctors

Sitting down with your GP and describing your ailments that show up as ‘invisible pain’ can be a real challenge and something that requires a bit of prior analysis and monitoring. With our guide below, gather some tips to help you understand your own pain as much as possible before heading to your GP. You may find this will help you avoid repeat appointments and misdiagnosis. Now, let’s begin…

Step 1: define your pain, is it acute or chronic?

We first know we have pain in the body when we feel an unpleasant sensation that is hard to ignore. It can be felt in a range of ways and be caused by a variety of factors. Because of the broad definition of pain, it’s important that you understand as much as possible about your own pain to help you describe it to others.

We can break down pain into two main categories, which are acute and chronic. Acute pain is short term and is often felt as a severe or sudden pain that eases with time. Opposite to this is chronic pain, which is persistent and can last for months — this is a recognised condition.

It’s also helpful to understand pain by determining the source. Your pain typically falls under one of the following categories:

• Neuropathic pain (nerve-injury)
• Radicular pain (pain travels down the path of the nerve)
• Somatic pain (caused by stimulation of pain receptors on the surface of the body or in musculoskeletal tissues)
• Myofascial pain (a type of somatic pain, associated with muscle pain)
• Visceral pain (relating to the internal organs)

You can categorise your pain more accurately by following the next steps, understand the cause better and find a treatment with the help of your GP.

Step 2: identify the triggers of your pain

Here’s something that may surprise you! Many triggers of pain, such as your environment can cause pain without you even realising. Identifying triggers can help you avoid them in the future and learn how to deal with them. You might find that your pain is associated with the following:

• Anxiety and stress
• Disrupted sleep patterns
• Temperature change
• Inflammatory food

Step 3: measure the intensity of your pain

How do you measure your pain intensity? By recognising when it gets worse and the potential triggers of this, you’ll gain better awareness of what you’re dealing with. A basic pain level chart is usually a scale of 1 to 10 that ranges from no pain to moderate pain to the worst possible pain. You can find a detailed explanation of each stage of the scale here.

Step 4: keep a record of your pain

It’s helpful to recognise when you’re experiencing pain, as this can help you monitor your triggers and determine if certain things make the pain better or worse.

What methods can you employ to track your pain? Ultimately, it’s whatever works for you, There are apps out there, such as CatchMyPain which allows you to draw the location and intensity of your pain on a model, track happiness and fatigue along with other features. Or, you might decide to create your own diary in a notepad. For this idea, just remember to make note of:

• The date and time you feel the pain
• How long it lasted
• Location of the pain
• Intensity of pain
• Any potential triggers
• Any treatment you used

Step 5: look at ways to treat your pain at home

Think are some ways to relieve your pain at home. But of course, if a pain persists, it is always best to seek medical advice. If it’s a painful injury that you’ve recently incurred, try the RICE method as soon as you can. This stands for rest, ice, compress and elevate and this technique works to keep swelling down.

There are over-the-counter anti-inflammatories you can turn to and they include aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen. They work well to treat muscle pain and inflammation injuries such as sprains and knee pain. Always read the instructions before administrating medication yourself though.

Minimal side effects are associated with medication such as gels, creams and sprays. These are all available from supermarkets and the pharmacy. These work by relieving the pain orally and are often used to treat muscle, tendon and joint pain.

Step 6: translate your symptoms into words

Prepare what you want to say to your doctor, ahead of attending your appointment. That way, you won’t forget to mention a specific symptom and reduce the risk of a misdiagnosis.

Bring along your pain tracker to show your doctor and have bullet points prepared that you can discuss — this could be triggers that you’ve identified and any treatments that you’ve tried at home.

Remember, getting familiar with your own pain and symptoms is the first step in treating it. Follow our 6-step guide and try to find the best treatment for you and your needs.

Lee Dover is a senior copywriter at Mediaworks with an interest in healthcare as well as researching into healthier ways of living. He has a BA (Hons) in Magazine Journalism.